Journal of Church and State Receives International Award

April 28, 1997

Waco, Texas -- The Journal of Church and State, published since 1959 by the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University, has been named the second recipient of the "Premio Arturo Carlo Jemolo," an award given trienially by a scholarly society based in Turin, Italy. The award also includes a cash prize.

Silvio Ferrari, professor of law at the University of Milan and a member of the society conferring the award, noted that "the Journal of Church and State is internationally recognized for its excellence in research in the fields of church-state relations and religious liberty. The Journal has for many years made significant contributions to the development of religious liberty in Europe, and it is hoped that due to the conferral of this award, Journal of Church and State will become even more widely read by scholars, politicians, jurists, and others around the world who are concerned about the role of religion in political affairs and the protection of religious freedom as a fundamental human right."

Dr. Derek H. Davis, director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and editor of Journal of Church and State, said, "We are very proud to have been named the recipient of this award. Baylor University and the Dawson Institute have for decades sought to advance the cause of religious liberty in the world community, and it is most gratifying to be recognized for making positive contributions to this important field of human endeavor.

"Pat Cornett and other members of the Journal staff, its 51-person international editorial board, the Baylor administration and regents who give patronage and support to the Journal,and especially Dr. James E. Wood Jr., who founded the Journal in 1959 and continues to serve as an editor, are the ones who really deserve the credit for this award."

Davis and Wood will represent the Journal when the award is conferred in Granada, Spain, on May 13 during the proceedings of an international church-state conference being held in that city.

The award is given in memory of Dr. Arturo Carlo Jemolo (1891-1981), the leading Italian scholar of his day in the fields of ecclesiastical law and church-state relations. The award is bestowed upon the journal with an international distribution which is deemed "to have made the most significant contribution to research within the fields of canon law, ecclesiastical law, or the history of the relations between state and church." The first recipient of the award, in 1993, was Archiv fur katholisches Kirchenrecht, a journal of canon law published in Germany since 1857.